patras lecture – 22 march 2014 water management in the anthropocene peter a. wilderer munich,...
TRANSCRIPT
Patras lecture – 22 March 2014
Water Management in the
Anthropocene
Peter A. WildererMunich, Germany
TUM Institute for Advanced Study – EASA-IoS International Expert Group on Earth System Preservation
Karl August Wittfogel(1896 – 1988)
German – US American historian & sociologist based on Max Weber & Karl Marx
water management spured evolution of civilizations
causes and effects:
aridclimate
food & watersupply
large scalehydraulicstructures
watergovernance
urbanization
protectionagainst
flooding &drought
good water governance requires
- knowledge
- information
- management experiences
K. A. Wittfogel: Oriental Despotism
A comparative Study of total Power Yale University Press, 1957
https://archive.org/details/KarlAugustWittfogel-OrientalDespotism
controlled by
democraticsystem
despoticsystem
oriental despotism / hydraulic despotism
ruler
administration
subjects
primary goal
building huge hydraulic structures
to secure water supply & agricultural production
total knowledgetotal power
are concentrated in theadministration
feudal system
monarch
nobles
knights vassals
farmers merchants craftmen
pesants serfs
first installed in England after 1066 AD. by William the Conqueror
primary goal: fighting wars, expansion of wealth and power
power is owned by
nobility
misuse of power leads to collapse
Jared DiamondUS American scientists, 1937
Collapse: How societies choose to Fall or Succeed
„climate change in accord with misuse of power
determine
rise and fall of empires“
= bad water governance
rise & fall through climate change
natural impacts
before 2001
350
300
250
200
CO
2 ,
ppm
v warm
cold
GHG emissioncauses
anthropogenicglobal warming
what´s new: magnitude & accelleration
accellerationof anthropogenic changesof the Earth System
global accelerationsource: http://de.slideshare.net/owengaffney/great-acceleration
anthropocen: expression of the contemporary geological ara
Antonio Stoppani1824-1891
1873 anthropozoic era
Paul Crutzen (1933)1995 Nobel Prize Chemistry
2000 anthropocen:the era dominated by humankind
Eugene Stroemer1934-2012
1980 anthropocen:the current geolocial epoch
7 200 000 0002013 years later
causes of acceleration and effects
170 Mio2013 years ago
170 Mio2013 years ago
7,000,000,000 Mio2013 years later
advances in science & technology
population growth
innovative communication
consequences:
• we need too much• we consume too much• we pollute too much• we destroy too much
how to solve those tremendous problems
in virtually „no time“ ?
how to solve water & food deficiencies ?
how to handle droughts and flooding?
how can we prevent
collaps
of the human civilization
?
limits of grassrouts democracy
resistance against changes
collapse
the resilience theory suggestschanges yes, but not
- in my backyard
- on the expense of own interests
interests of
• individuals
• enterprises
• governments
is revival
of the
oriental / hydraulic despotism
the solution
?
Wittfogel considers
only those
earn the privilege of freedom
who are routed in the heritage of the past
being alert for the threats of a conflic-torn present
and boldly exhausting the possibilities of an open future
thank´s for listening
whether democracy or hydraulic despotism is chosen
all what counts is
good governance